The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connectors that include flexible printed circuits.
General trends in computing systems and devices include smaller sizes, increased functionalities, and faster computing speeds. Although these trends exist for larger communication systems, such as backplane or midplane communication systems, the demands have been specifically directed toward consumer devices, such as tablets, laptop computers, smartphones, digital cameras, and wearable technologies (e.g., activity trackers, smartwatches, and the like).
One known interconnection system includes a high density microfilm connector that is configured to be mounted onto a printed circuit. The microfilm connector has a reduced thickness compared to other connectors. The microfilm connector includes a flexible film having an array of contact pads. Each contact pad is electrically coupled to a corresponding conductive trace that extends through the flexible film. The flexible film includes an array of thru-holes in which each thru-hole is aligned with a corresponding contact pad. Each of the contact pads is formed from a plurality of flexible fingers that at least partially cover the corresponding thru-hole. More specifically, the flexible fingers extend radially inward toward a central axis of a corresponding thru-hole such that each finger partially covers the corresponding thru-hole.
The printed circuit of the known interconnection system has an array of conductive projections. When the microfilm connector is mounted onto the printed circuit, each of the conductive projections deflects the flexible fingers of a respective contact pad and advances into the corresponding thru-hole that is aligned with the respective contact pad. The flexible fingers are biased against the respective conductive projection and remain mechanically and electrically coupled to the conductive projection throughout operation of the interconnection system.
The above interconnection system, however, is manufactured using a variety of different manufacturing techniques that can be time consuming. Moreover, the effectiveness and/or the cost of implementing these techniques is based on a number of variables, such as a geometry of the microfilm connector, geometries of the flexible fingers, and/or geometry of the printed circuit. For some applications and/or system configurations, alternative methods for interconnecting two electrical components using a flexible printed circuit are desired.
Accordingly, there is a need for a flexible printed circuit connector that is capable of interconnecting two electrical components.